Cubic Expands Contactless Payment System To Sydney Trains

Cubic Corporation announced Monday (November 26) that its Cubic Transportation Systems unit and Transport for New South Wales will expand the contactless payment system to cover Sydney’s train network.

In a press release, Cubic said the expanded partnership comes on the heels of successfully bringing contactless payments to the Australian city’s ferries and light rail. Cubic said that some of the contactless technology, software and equipment developed for Sydney will be in Cubic projects that will be rolled out over the course of the next few years in cities such as New York, Boston, and San Francisco. That is being made possible by recent contract wins by the company.

“Expanding contactless in Sydney is a game-changer for transport and represents one of the biggest advancements in ticketing technology in years,” Tom Walker, senior vice president and managing director of Cubic Transportation Systems, Asia-Pacific, said in the press release. “We’re very proud that Sydney is helping to lead the way by embracing new technologies to provide the best services possible for passengers.”

The project began with a trial on the Manly ferry in 2017. Since then more than 235,000 trips have been taken in Sydney using contactless payments since the system was extended to all ferries and light rails in March of 2018. With the technology, commuters get a wider choice in how they pay for tickets including via credit cards, smartwatches, wearables, and other electronic devices as well as via the popular Opal card.

“This effort is a tremendous achievement, driven by New South Wales Transport and Infrastructure Minister for Transport Andrew Constance’s vision of using the most advanced technologies available to improve transport for commuters,” Walker noted in the press release. Cubic noted that the Sydney contactless or open payment system is based on ticketing technology Cubic developed with Transport for London (TfL), that’s readily adaptable to meet the unique environmental and regulatory conditions of cities around the world.